In this episode, Chris Sasser talks about how his staff re-imagined the way volunteers serve and built teams around what families were in need of in their church. The three buckets he explains help to narrow the focus of how to effectively reach families in the midst of the pandemic. This audio is from the Volunteer Bootcamp online event that was hosted by Ministry Boost.
Chris Sasser
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Why Re-Imagining Volunteer Teams Matters
Most churches organize volunteer teams around programs — greeting team, kids team, worship team. But what if you organized teams around the actual needs of your families? That is the shift Chris Sasser describes in this episode. Instead of asking volunteers to fill slots in existing programs, his team created new roles designed around what families actually needed during a season of disruption.
This approach aligns with the principles in The Volunteer Playbook: when you build your volunteer structure around real needs rather than institutional habits, you unlock new capacity and create more meaningful serving opportunities. A healthy volunteer culture starts with clarity about what your volunteers are actually doing and why it matters.
The Three-Bucket Framework for Volunteer Teams
Chris explains how his church organized all volunteer roles into three simple buckets that made it easy for families to understand where they could serve:
- Bucket 1: In-person teams. These are your traditional Sunday morning roles — greeters, kids ministry workers, tech crew. Even within this bucket, Chris encourages re-evaluating which roles are essential and which exist out of habit.
- Bucket 2: Digital and remote teams. Roles that can be done from anywhere — social media content, phone calls to families, follow-up emails, online small group facilitation. These roles expanded dramatically and many remain viable today.
- Bucket 3: Community-facing teams. Volunteers who serve outside the church walls — delivering meals, organizing neighborhood outreach, coordinating care packages. These roles connect your church to the broader community in tangible ways.
The power of this framework is its simplicity. When someone asks “where can I serve?” you have three clear categories instead of a confusing list of 30 team names. Pair this with well-written volunteer job descriptions for each role and your recruiting conversations become much more effective.
How to Apply This in Your Ministry
Start by listing every volunteer role in your ministry. Then categorize each one into buckets that make sense for your context. Look for gaps — are there family needs that no current team addresses? Are there roles that no longer serve a clear purpose? This exercise often reveals opportunities to create new teams that energize volunteers who have been disengaged.
Once you have restructured your teams, update your volunteer onboarding process to reflect the new structure. Make sure every new volunteer understands which bucket their role falls into and how it connects to the broader mission. And do not forget to appreciate your volunteers through the transition — change is hard, and recognition keeps people engaged.
Related Resources
- The Volunteer Playbook — Nick's book on building volunteer culture
- Building a Volunteer Culture at Your Church
- 31 Volunteer Job Descriptions for Family Ministry
- Volunteer Onboarding for Churches
- Staff to Volunteer Ratios
Action Items
- What new teams would you create?
- What buckets can you put all of your teams in?
- What teams do you need to create just to help people serve?
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